Police are urging people to check before opening their doors after a 91-year-old woman was attacked in her Coventry flat.

Two teenagers attacked the pensioner in her flat, in Bruce Road, Radford, at about 7.45pm on Tuesday after forcing their way into her home.

The youths, white and in their late teens, fled with an undisclosed amount of cash.

The pensioner was badly shaken and treated by ambulance crews at her home.

Det Con Phil Houghton, at Stoney Stanton Road police station, said: "The family are very upset. They were totally shocked by this. It was totally unnecessary to use violence.

"Obviously we always tell people they must ask to see identifi-cation before letting anyone in but that wasn't the case here because the offenders just barged their way through.

"We're appealing for information about the incident, either about people loitering around the area beforehand or anyone who has heard of someone who has come into some money suddenly." Sue Burgin, director of Age Concern Coventry, warned pensioners to use their door chain and look at callers through door spy holes or windows and check their IDs.

But she added: "The last thing we want is for people to feel like prisoners in their own homes. Elderly people are a minority of victims of crime. The problem is they can be a target for bogus callers.

Anyone with information about the attack should call 024 7653

9485.

The incident is the latest in a string of attacks on vulnerable elderly people in the city over the last few months.

*** February 19, a 78-year-old woman was pushed to the ground and had her shopping bags stolen outside Kwik Save in Riley Square, Bell Green.

*** February 21, a 72-year-old woman was mugged a second time in 14 months when thieves attacked her at the top of Queen Victoria Road, as she collected her pension. She suffered a broken shoulder and bruising.

*** February 15, a 70-year-old woman was dragged along Poole Road, Radford, by a robber who stole her handbag.

* On February 7, Coventry pensioner Harvey Sampson, aged 67, spoke out about an ordeal in which he and his 65-year-old wife were threatened with a pitchfork at their home in Cheylesmore,by two men who demanded his bank details.

*** January 13, a pensioner suffered minor injuries after she was pinned down during a robbery at her house in Wyken Croft, Wyken, Coventry.